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First image of a Dark Matter object

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Title First image of a Dark Matter object

Released 01/02/2002 3:43 pm

Copyright European Space Agency and the MACHO project team

Description

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is based on three exposures from the WFPC2 camera at the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained in the V-, R- and I-bands, (shown as blue, green and red respectively). It shows the first image of a Dark Matter object - a MACHO (a massive compact object). It is the red object that is indicated with an arrow. This MACHO is a nearby red dwarf star that gravitationally focused light from a blue background star in another galaxy in a so-called microlensing event. Since the event six years ago, the MACHO has moved 0.134 arc seconds on the sky and can now be clearly separated from the blue star in the Hubble image.